Building the Organization Behind the LA28 Games
How do you build a high-performing organization from scratch, in time to deliver the Olympic and Paralympic Games?
That was the challenge Korn Ferry took on when LA28—the organizing committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2028—was a start-up of around 20 people.
Since joining forces with LA28 in 2024, Korn Ferry has helped LA28 appoint its C-suite, design its workforce strategy, and lay the cultural foundation for an organization built to scale to nearly 5,000 people and perform when the world is watching.
Before LA28 could make a single hire, it needed a plan for who to bring in, when to bring them in, and how to develop them for roles that would largely disappear once the Games were over.
Most organizations grow gradually. LA28 had to grow at speed. It had to work backwards from the organization it needed on opening day, then map every hire required to get there.
Roles built early on, in planning and infrastructure, would need to give way to a different kind of hiring later, when the focus shifted to running the Games themselves.
None of that works unless people want to join in the first place. LA28 needed a purpose bigger than a temporary job. It also needed a plan for what came after the Games.
“People think we're here to hire people for LA28. We're here to build the organization that makes the Games possible, and hiring is just one part of that.”
Jeanne MacDonald, CEO of Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO), Korn Ferry
With the workforce strategy in place, Korn Ferry helped LA28 build the leadership, culture, and capabilities to bring that plan to life.
Korn Ferry defined success profiles for LA28's leadership roles. Its assessments then provided added assurance that the candidates recruited through a cross-industry effort by our executive search teams had the skills and resilience needed to succeed in such a high-pressure environment.
That work brought in CEO Reynold Hoover, CHRO Tami Majer, and other key members of the senior leadership team—the people who would turn that vision from a plan on paper into a real organization.
Coaching and leadership development followed, giving those leaders the support to lead an organization growing faster than most had ever experienced.
Korn Ferry also helped shape the culture and employee value proposition (EVP) behind every hire, making a temporary role feel like "the job of a lifetime." Career transition support is planned for helping people prepare for what comes after the Games.
“Everything we're building for LA28 could become the playbook for running the human capital engine of an entire company.”
Emilie Petrone, vice chairman, Human Resources Practice, Korn Ferry
The impact is already visible:
- Built the LA28 workforce from 150 employees to more than 500 in the first two years
- Contributed to the assembly of a complete executive leadership team
- Created an EVP to attract top talent to fixed-term roles
- Introduced career transition support to be deployed to all employees
The foundations are in place—but this is just chapter one of Korn Ferry's partnership with LA28. Next comes hiring at scale, building on that foundation to create a workforce ready to deliver the LA28 Games.
Contact us to learn more about how Korn Ferry can help build the workforce, leadership, and culture your organization needs to perform when it matters most.
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